Diet-wise I can eat/drink whatever I want. I drink 1-2x a week, sometimes heavily. I eat everything in sight, usually pretty healthy but binge a couple times a week.

Is there no benefit given your condition for eating very clean? I mean, over and above the benefit any of us can get from doing so........

I did strict gluten-free combined with alcohol free for multiple months, no relief on gut or arthritis symptoms.

There are two schools of thought on this, anything that points to diet helping tends to be anecdotal at this point. Question is, is that because of lack of research or does diet not play a role in these disorders?

I also have celiac so I'm forced to be 100% gluten free, but other than that I have always eaten whatever I wanted as I never found what I ate had an affect on my colitis.

However, I do believe food can be a trigger for some. From reading healingwell and other colitis sites it really seems the disease is slightly different for everyone, which is why treating it seems to be such a challenge.

That is so hard to follow a 100% gluten free diet :/ I dont even know if I can follow it. eeeek

Oh nice, that's not too bad then as far as diet goes. I know some people have a lot of triggers and need to be strict. Definitely feel for them.

It just depends on your triggers. I have a friend who can eat Sonic hotdogs all day and be fine, but if there's any spice or dairy on anything, it'll usually mess with him. Personally, I like to eat as clean as possible.

Yeah, it's really hard to pinpoint how big of a role diet does play in these disorders. When I did a lot of research into the SC Diet and other similar diets, these people were deadset on this working. The SC Diet had some research behind it. But docs don't normally go the diet route, which I think could be a mistake. I hope docs take a closer look at how diet can affect this disease instead of putting everyone on these hardcore meds.

Yeah, it's very different for anyone. I was able to eat certain things that others weren't, and vice versa. Are you handling celiac well? My girlfriend's bff was diagnosed within the past year. She's had some down moments, but we talk often and I try to be as helpful as I can since we've both had serious digestive diseases.

Do you have any reason to? Do you have a gluten allergy? If not, I wouldn't necessarily attempt to eat a gluten free diet; it's just not necessary.

Been on 2.5mg for 2 weeks now, last two nights I've had a massive cramp in my calf wake me up at about 4 in the morning. I did some research and it looks like this could be a side effect of tapering. No other issues though, in fact I've had my first good week of dieting since I was diagnosed ~15 months ago. Hoping to start ramping up my exercise too, thinking bodyweight stuff to start and hopefully get back in the gym by March.

WBC wasn't much higher after 2 weeks off Imuran. Doctor wants me to wait 1 more week then start taking 100mg/day (was on 150mg for the past year) but I would rather not take it anymore. I've been off it for 2 weeks and went down to 2.5mg during that time, seems like it's unnecessary as it didn't prove enough to curb my symptoms by itself in the past.

Honestly celiac hasn't been a problem for me at all. I stick to diet 100% and it just becomes a life style. I very rarely have cravings for foods I can't have and nowadays there is often a GF alternative anyway.

The most difficult part by far is eating at other people's houses. They are aware of my diet and often put in a ton of effort to make a gluten free meal researching etc.., but unfortunately they often make minor slip ups that you wouldn't know unless you're on the diet. So I have been accidentally glutened a few times like this and it just ruins the night since they feel bad in addition to me feeling guilty they put in so much effort just for me for it to not work out. The other is eating at restaurants, but that has become much easier.

Thankfully my reaction to just a bit of gluten isn't too bad aside from some discomfort.

The other thing is I'm not a big foodie, so I guess that has made it easier for me as well. Much easier to deal with than UC.

So here is an article and interview with Darren Fletcher about his illness:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26060048

Its interesting that he felt he needed to hide it from team mates etc for a long time. It makes it sound like professional football in England is a harsh and unforgiving work-place.

I'd be interested to know exactly what operation he had, but I don't think this information is in the public domain.

I remember having muscle cramps before my surgery, mostly in my feet. I found it hard to stay hydrated at times because of the frequent bowel movements. Are you paying attention to your hydration daily? It can be a challenge to drink enough water, at times. Sounds like a good plan though re: exercise. Hopefully things can continue on the right track for you man.

I'll pass this along to my girlfriend's bff, who has Celiac. She's gotten better with dealing with it overall. I think it was just taking her some time to get used to the diet. We're from south Louisiana, so we're foodies at heart I've also helped her as much as possible with finding restaurants and anything else she needs help with, and I've learned a lot about the disease in the process. I don't know that one is necessarily better than the other, but I'm glad you are able to deal with it easily. I try to imagine what it must be like, but that's pretty difficult.

Definitely gonna come back to this later this week to read. Thanks for posting it. I'll be having a lot of free time on my hands this week.

My second surgery is at 7 am, so in about 9 hours. Gotta be there at 5, and it's an hour drive, so I doubt I even attempt to sleep tonight. I stayed at Harrah's pretty late last night, and I slept in this morning, adding in an afternoon nap, so I should be good. Plus, I'm sure I'll get a little sleep in the hospital tomorrow with the pain meds going through my system.

GL Jay

gl man, best wishes for a speedy recovery

The thing with Celiac though is you eliminate gluten and it's essentially cured whereas with UC it's most definitely not the case unless you remove an entire body part. I suppose it could be argued it's more difficult in a social sense since in my experience if your UC is under control than it is easily hidden and absolutely nobody knows you have it unless you reveal it. Whereas with celiac people automatically question why you aren't eating the delicious cake, donuts or cupcakes that "Barb" brought into the office today.

Or say there is a work lunch or something, as so many things we do revolve around food, and you decide you are just going to order a drink since the 1 or 2 food options potentially available to you on the menu look too risky or whatever. You again are looked at as being slightly strange. Basically, in my experience Celiac is more of a social negative rather than a health negative if you are disciplined enough to stick to the gluten-free diet. UC is both of course, but only when active.

The social negatives with Celiac can obviously be easily overcome with the right attitude though, whereas with active UC having to always ask/be aware of where the washrooms are is much more difficult to overcome haha

Funny related side story was one night I was out drinking and decided to get some drunk grub as everyone does. We hit up a restaurant and the only thing I can have on the menu is a garden salad..... The perfect dish you are absolutely craving when drunk!!!

Hope your surgery went well.

updaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate pls

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates. The surgery itself went well. I was in some pain after, but I didn't hurt as much as I did after the first surgery. I actually just got home from the hospital a little over 24 hours ago. I ran a fever for 3 nights last week, which was cause for concern. They think it could have been some inflammation in the pouch itself, which isn't necessarily uncommon. They put me on some antibiotics and let me go when I didn't run the fever (Sunday night). I'm back home resting, binge watching Netflix and just relaxing. I'm on oral antibiotics right now, and I'm just trying to stay as hydrated as possible.

This stoma is very different from the first one in that it sits a lot closer to the skin. Hopefully everything can continue to go well with it. I can provide more details with everything once I get some energy back. I slept for about 16 hours off and on when I got home because I was absolutely drained from being in the hospital all week. Off to rest now, talk soon.

Sounds like a success at early doors op, good stuff

Back in the hospital. Fever keeps coming back, along with increased nausea (could be the antibiotics). Supposed to get a CAT scan, hopefully tonight, to check for an abscess, which is what doc is suspecting. If that's the case, it can be drained. We'll see what transpires.

It's been pretty rough overall from a mental standpoint. I'm drained physically and mentally. These last 13 months have been a lot to deal with. I'm talking with close friends and letting a lot of frustration out. Just honestly ready to get my life back. I would never wish this on anyone. No one deserves to have this disease take over their life. And it can be tough mentally to not allow it to do just that. So if anyone has this disease and just needs someone to talk to, do not hesitate to PM me. Please.

I might be struggling now, but I have a good support system. And I'll come out on top eventually. Just gotta try to be as patient as possible. Thanks again for the good vibes and kind words guys. I appreciate it all.

ffffffffffffffff

Hope this **** turns around for you. UC is such a grind.

Scan last night confirmed two areas of fluid, and they're thinking this is where the abscess is. They may be connected. The radiology team is supposed to come talk to me later today, hopefully this morning, about the procedure. They'll have the drain the fluid, and the length of time depends on how much they put out, from what I'm understanding. Seems like it's a standard surgical risk and may not be directly related to this particular surgery. I'll try to keep this updated when I can. No idea how the next few days will be.

Thanks for the updates. Hang in there. Good to hear you have a strong support system and mindset.

Got back home Saturday afternoon. Have been resting since. The drains are still in, and they're draining into the grenade looking things. It seems to be draining very slow now, so Idk if that's good or bad. Lots of fluid in the tubes, but not a lot in the drains themselves. I did run a fever Saturday and today briefly, so I'm undecided if I should wait it out or call the doc tomorrow and let him know. I have an appointment on Friday to see what the next step is with these drains.

The pain meds they sent me home with are quite different than what they were pushing through the IV. I was getting dilaudid at the hospital, and now I have norco 7.5/325. The dilaudid was quite relaxing and touched the pain more than the norco. They did have to dilute it with saline to push it though because if I had it straight, I would get very nauseous for 5-10 seconds.

Ready for this infection to be done so I can get back to a regular schedule imo.

Where are the drains?

**** sounds crazy, hang in there man!!

One is on the front right side near my ostomy. The other is in my back right hip, so I'm laying on the insertion point. This one hurt like hell the first day, but it's gotten tolerable since. More discomfort than pain at this point.

I hope you get better from this infection quickly. I think in this situation - with drains in - if you are in any doubt you should call the doctor.

Tough break, Jay. Hopefully this round of treatment gets things sorted and you're back on your way to getting it beat. Good luck